Indiana Department of Homeland Security

The objective of an offensive fire attack is to apply enough water directly to the burning fuel to achieve extinguishment. The essential question for the IC to answer is how many gallons per minute (GPM) are required to extinguish a given fire with properly placed hose lines and adequate staffing required to safely engage. Offensive fire attack is the preferred strategy whenever conditions and resources permit an interior attack. A defensive decision limits operations to the exterior, generally resulting in larger property loss and limiting rescue operations.

The objective of fireground operations considered by the IC has to include a risk to firefighters and civilians along with the benefit to reducing the property loss.